The Israeli military said the Gaza ceasefire had resumed after an attack that killed two of its soldiers, prompting a wave of airstrikes that the Palestinians say killed 26 people, in the most serious test yet of the month-long truce.
US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire he brokered was still in effect. He said the Hamas leadership may not have been involved in the ceasefire violations.
“We think the leadership may not have been involved. In any case, it will be dealt with firmly but properly,” Trump said.
He said he did not know whether the Israeli strikes were justified.
Aid to Gaza was due to resume on Monday after US pressure, an Israeli security source said, shortly after Israel suspended deliveries due to what he said were apparent ceasefire violations by Hamas.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip, including field commanders, gunmen, a tunnel and weapons depots, after militants fired an anti-tank rocket and opened fire on Israeli troops, killing two soldiers. The attacks killed at least 26 people, including at least one woman and one child, according to local residents and health officials.
At least one strike hit a former school that was serving as a shelter for displaced people in the Nuseirat area, residents said.
“We’ll have to see what happens. We want to make sure that the situation with Hamas is very calm,” Trump said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to respond forcefully to what he described as ceasefire violations by Hamas. Fearing that the truce might collapse, some Palestinians rushed to buy goods at the main market in Nuseirat, while families fled their homes in Khan Younis in the south after airstrikes hit a nearby area.
The attacks are reminiscent of Israel’s response to what was seen as a serious violation of a ceasefire with Hamas’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah in late 2024, less than a week after it went into effect and after days of mutual accusations of violations, although the truce has largely remained in place.
However, serious obstacles remain to a lasting peace in Gaza, where the ceasefire collapsed in March after nearly two months of relative calm when Israel launched a wave of airstrikes. The new ceasefire came into effect on October 10, halting the two-year war, but the Israeli government and Hamas have been accusing each other of violations for days. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the yellow line, to which Israeli forces withdrew under the ceasefire agreement, would be physically marked and that any violation of the ceasefire or attempt to cross it would be met with fire.
Hamas has laid out a series of alleged violations by Israel, which it says have killed 46 people and prevented essential supplies from reaching the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, Israel said the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which was expected to reopen this week, would remain closed, and that its reopening would depend on Hamas fulfilling its obligations under the ceasefire.
Israel says Hamas has been slow to hand over the bodies of dead hostages. Hamas released all 20 live hostages it was holding last week, and in the following days handed over 12 of the 28 dead prisoners.
